God's Messiah in the Old Testament: Expectations of a Coming King

by Andrew T. Abernethy

In terms of a definition of “messiah” and “messianism,” in this book these terms are understood to refer to the hope of the coming of a royal agent who will serve God’s kingdom purposes, an expectation that Christians believe finds fulfillment in Jesus Christ.1 Put simply, a messianic passage or book in the Old Testament is one in which this royal figure is prefigured, anticipated, predicted, or described.